Top-Selling Brits

“ Export or die” was the rally call for British automobile companies in the years following World War II, a period when that island nation’s economy was heavily dependent on American dollars to repay its wartime debts. The British cars that U.S. buyers took most to heart — and purchased in great numbers —were the rakishly attractive, engaging sports cars that were so unlike the mainstream transportation produced by automakers on this side of the pond; more affluent buyers also looked to the U.K. for its incredible selection of fine and sophisticated sporting motorcars.

Ship after ship came Stateside carrying sporting automobiles with venerable nameplates like AC, MG, and Singer, bearing newer ones like Austin-Healey, Lotus, and TVR. Enthusiastic American buyers embraced these sometimes impractical, always life-affirming roadsters and coupes, making best-sellers out of cars that were often rarely seen in the home market, so great was our demand. Even after the British sports car boom of the 1950s and 1960s slowed, and once-loved marques began to consolidate and disappear, the cheap and cheerful, or powerful and polished, products of this imported motoring trend continued to radiate unique appeal.

To keep this list manageable and relevant to the primary interests of the Hemmings Classic Car readership, we have limited this piece to celebrating the most popular British sports cars introduced before 1990. While this means it’s therefore not comprehensive or exact, we hope it still offers a view into the most-produced models from many of the world’s favorite U.K. marques. The build numbers included on these pages are approximations, and rounded off for simplicity.

AC CARS

Today’s drivers primarily know the venerable Surrey firm of AC Cars for its most popular and enduring model, the pretty, Italian-inspired roadster that would become a steroid-injected racer at the hands of a certain Texas chicken farmer.